One Golden, One Scarred
by Emmabeth27
Summary: Mermaid Drarry AU. They shouldn't have become friends, they really shouldn't have become lovers, now they're left with an impossible choice as Draco's family pushes him to an arranged marriage.


Draco hurried, flipping his tail faster as he swam. His waist-length hair flowed out behind him, and his blue grey scales flashed with light from the surface.

He breached the water, jumping up cleanly onto their rock. He grinned when he saw he was first and took off his crown of jewels and shells so he could tie his hair up. The ocean was calm and bright today, reflecting dozens of rays of light from the jeweled adornments on Draco's body. Both his nipples had delicate gold bars through them, fragile little chains encrusted with gems dripped from them. He also had a large collar necklace of shells and pretty gems strung around his waist that tied into his navel piercing.

With a piece of cord he kept handy, he tied his hair back in a neat bun before putting his crown back on. Usually, the crown and hairdo didn't last long once his friend arrived, but Draco still liked looking perfect.

Looking back toward the south, Draco sighed softly. They probably were getting more suspicious of all his absences. It wouldn't be easy going forward…

Interrupting his thoughts was a large splash from the northern side of their rock, Harry landing on the rock with just as much precision as Draco had. They'd both had lots of practice.

Harry frowned when he saw Draco was already there and scooted over to him. "I guess that's 220 to 260 then."

"You're chronically late, you're just lucky I stick around," Draco said with a pretend haughtiness. His heart started to pound as Harry came closer. He would have thought he'd be over it by now, this intense nervous and excited feeling but it appeared that it was around to stay.

"I actually work, unlike some Prince," Harry pointed out. His shoulder-length hair was done up in warriors braids, held back with less impressive shells than Draco was using. The lightning bolt scar on Harry's forehead seemed extra intense today.

The scar was a sign of what lead to the situation the boys were now in. When James Potter was appealing to the council of Kings to have his half-blood wife approved to live in the colony, there had been an attack. Harry's mother had died and Harry had a scar still from the spear of the purist extremist. James had given up his title of King and taken his friends and sympathizers away to another reef to make a new kingdom where all kinds were accepted. They lived less grandly, but they co-existed with the sharkmen, octimen, and all the other types of merpeoples.

"I do work. I had three council meetings this morning I'll have you know." Draco huffed, turning his head so Harry's kiss landed on Draco's cheek instead of his lips.

All the blood rushed to Draco's face though, and he was sure a fine hunter like Harry could hear the way his heart pounded happily from the closeness.

They were still a breath apart, not yet touching. Harry smiled, he ran a finger down Draco's arm, looking at the pretty armband Draco was wearing. It was made with the rarest green shells that matched Harry's eyes and tail color. It had been a gift from Harry when they'd turned sixteen and started coming to the rock.

"A lot of time has passed but you're still that stubborn kid I met when I was eleven." Harry smiled and kissed Draco's shoulder.

"And you're still just as brash," Draco pointed out.

That first meeting had been in the borderlands, both children looking for adventure. When they'd first met they'd fought, Draco preferred not to think about it. It hadn't been his most shining moment when he'd gotten his tail pinned under a rock during their fighting. Naturally, Harry had saved him. And what should have been a lifelong rivalry had somehow come to this.

Harry put a had on Draco's cheek and turned his head, finally claiming the kiss he wanted.

Draco melted into him. Every time they kissed, he was tempted to let go of all the voices battling within him, longing to be able to enjoy a simple kiss without thinking about anything else. But he'd never yet been able to forget that if they were discovered doing this, the penalties would be harsh.

"Harry, we have to talk…" Draco said, putting a hand on Harry's chest. Instead of dripping with jewels, Harry had scars from battles and tattoos of his exploits on his skin. Draco had enjoyed many days simply tracing every path of ink and scar tissue with his lips.

"Do we?" Harry asked, trying to pull him back in for more kissing.

Draco gave in for a moment, kissing him back and making small content sighs.

"It's my birthday in two weeks…" Draco said, trying to pull away from Harry's insistent lips for a moment.

"I know, I have a present for you." Harry grinned and took Draco's hand, placing it on top of the slit in Harry's tail. Already he could feel the slit parting and the soft heads of Harry's penises rising.

Draco snatched his hand away. "Don't be vulgar," Draco said, blushing hard and turning his head away.

Harry laughed and kissed Draco's ear where he had several more piercings. "Sorry, I do have a real gift for you, but let's talk about it later, okay?" He hummed happily against Draco, trying to bring him in closer.

"Harry…" Draco sighed a little, but let himself be pulled in so there was nothing left separating them. The two of them were nearly the same size, Draco was probably longer but Harry had gotten more muscles in his torso and his tail.

Harry seemed to think that was a sign that he was allowed to go ahead, and he started playing with one of the gold bars in Draco's nipple while he kissed him.

"Harry." Draco pulled his mouth away, he knew he was in danger of losing his nerve and not saying this at all. "I'm going to be twenty," he started.

Harry laughed. "I know, you're going to beat me to official adulthood. Did you want to brag?" he asked, still playing with the bar, sliding it back and forth a little.

"No, I'm not bragging. I'm explaining something important." He batted Harry's hand away from his nipple.

"Is your dad going to expect you to take on more duties?" Harry asked with a frown, finally paying attention.

"In a way…" Draco said, his sad grey eyes darting away from Harry's bright green ones.

"So less time together." Harry sighed. "Well, that goes along with my gift for you. Want to hear what it is?" he asked with a smile.

Draco looked back at him and nodded.

"I want you to come live with me. At the free colony," Harry said, with a tentative grin, clearly excited but knowing it was a big suggestion. "You'll be an adult, your dad can't stop you if you want to leave. Come to live with my people. It's not the palace you know, but it's comfortable and we'll always be together. I know you'd be welcomed there."

Draco was shaking his head. Of course, he'd thought about it, but dismissed it as fantasy. He couldn't believe Harry was serious.

"None of the Princes or Kings has left since your Father. It's one thing if commoners leave, but you know there would be retribution if it was me," Draco said.

"Then let them come! We'll fight them off. It was bound to happen anyway!" Harry frowned.

"Nice. Some birthday present, an all-out war between our two kingdoms. Even if your side won, do you think I could live with that?" Draco said, just as stubborn as Harry.

"Then forget it, you and I will run away for your birthday. It's a big ocean, there are other colonies. I don't believe that they were all lost, no matter what the elders say. We'll go find them." Apparently, Harry wasn't done daydreaming.

"Harry." Draco rolled his eyes a little. "That was the kind of idea you might have sold me on when we were thirteen, but not now."

Harry frowned some more, looking very annoyed. "Then I'll come live with you. Technically I am still a Prince over there, right? I'll just come back."

Draco's jaw dropped, that was one possibility he hadn't considered. But of course, it was even more insane than running around the ocean looking for other merpeople.

"That is the craziest thing I've ever heard." Draco shook his head.

"Then what's your big plan!" Harry challenged him.

"I'm getting married," Draco said softly, his voice almost numb.

"Don't be ridiculous." Harry snorted, though as his eyes raked over Draco, he realized it wasn't a joke. "To whom?" Harry demanded.

Draco scooted away, moving nearer the edge of the rock. "To Astoria," he said. Harry would know the name, he'd talked enough about the people at home over the years.

"Astoria," Harry repeated it slowly, clearly in disbelief. "Was this your idea?" he snapped, accusatory.

Draco looked away, back out at the sea.

"So it was his idea," Harry hissed, 'his' clearly being Draco's father.

"We have to wait a year until she's come of age too. But it's going to happen," Draco said.

"You're just going along with this." Harry scooted closer. Draco listened to the sound of his scales on the rock and sighed. It had been a statement and not a question.

"She's nice. It's better than some of my other options." Draco shrugged a little.

"Other options like being with me." Harry sounded wounded and Draco finally looked back at him.

Harry's whole face was a storm of emotions, he'd never learned to control himself as Draco had.

"We can still be together. Like this. Our rock," Draco said hopefully. It was a plea, even prayer-like. He hoped Harry understood that he wouldn't say no.

"No," Harry said, the force of his word putting out every light of hope inside of Draco. "I won't be your side piece. I'm offering you a life with me. You're offering secrets and lies until we're so old we can't even jump up on this rock? No." Harry glared at him, the pain in his green eyes was clear to see.

Draco opened his mouth, he'd prepared so many arguments the last two days, he just needed to convince Harry it would work.

But Harry wasn't done yet. "You want to be pragmatic? Well, then consider this: it's only a matter of time before we're caught. Let's just stop this now," Harry said, glaring at Draco like he had when they'd first met as children.

"Fine," Draco said. He sat up straighter and glared back. He wouldn't beg like some common little flounder. If Harry was done, then Draco would be done too.

"Fine," Harry snapped back.

"Good luck fishing, Potter," Draco sneered and jumped off the rock and back into the water.

He swam home quickly, he never looked back and he never paused. The trouble with them as they were both quick to anger and terribly stubborn. When they fought it meant a world of trouble before they met up again. But this time, Draco reminded himself as he neared his palace, there would be no meeting again.

….

Nearly two months passed and Draco was keeping himself busy in his new life as an adult. His engagement had gone ahead, they'd had a big combination birthday and engagement party that had been the highlight of the year so far, for the other merpeople in the colony.

Draco, however, had grown increasingly numb to everything. It was just heartbreak, he told himself, as if that made it better. But food lost its flavor and the most enjoyable things now seemed lackluster. Every third day, their rock day, he wondered if Harry was there and what he was thinking or doing.

Every time he caught himself thinking of Harry, he scolded himself sharply, but so far it wasn't helping. What was worse was the delivery of Harry's birthday gift from the royal jeweler. Of course, nobody knew it was for Harry, but that's what Draco had intended. It was an armband, similar to the one Draco had gotten. But this one had grey diamonds that would match Draco's eyes. He had immediately stuffed the box under his bed and tried to forget about it.

The day after Harry's birthday, Draco was sitting at his vanity and trying to nurse his swollen eyes. He'd cried for the last time last night, he promised himself. He wasn't going to go to pieces and miss out on the rest of his life over some boy who broke his heart.

He heard some commotion outside in the anemone garden and he looked out his window. The guards were hauling someone up toward the castle, someone with a bright green tail.

Draco's traitorous heart leaped in his chest. He swam out the window and got closer, trying to prove with his eyes what his heart already knew.

Harry was going peacefully with two guards, swimming between them and looking around with interest.

Draco stayed out of sight and leaned back against one of the tall coral formations.

"Fucking Potter." Draco sighed and grinned to himself. Harry had forced his hand but he found that he didn't mind it.

It was about an hour later when Draco snuck down into the seldom-used dungeon to find Harry.

There was one guard on duty and Draco ordered him to take a break. If he was lucky the guard would simply do it, if they were unlucky he'd run to tell his superiors and Draco's father would find out within the hour what had happened.

Draco swam down to the last cell with the keys in his hand.

Harry had been giving a good impression of sleeping on the bed when he heard someone coming. Something must have tipped him off it was Draco and not the guard because he sat up abruptly. He grinned at Draco and gave a little shrug. "I came to find you since you didn't come to me."

"I told you I wasn't going to come to you," he pointed out as he unlocked the door.

"Yeah, but when you didn't come I decided I had to come here." Harry swam forward.

Draco opened the door and rolled his eyes a little. "You're lucky they don't know who you are yet. We'd be in more trouble than we could handle."

As he was scolding Harry, Harry came forward and wrapped his arms around Draco, resting his head on Draco's chest. "I missed you," Harry said softly.

Draco took a second to pet Harry's hair and hugged him back. "You're impossible," he said fondly.

Harry smiled and lifted his head after a minute. "What's the plan?"

"You're asking me that?! You should be the one with a plan." Draco pinched his arm and started putting a disguise on Harry. Some jewelry in his hair and a cloak over his chest should be fine so long as no one looked close.

"Well, I do have a plan of course." Harry sounded offended. "I just don't think you'll like it."

"Hurry and tell me." Draco took his hand and swam out of the dungeon with him. He went carefully through the palace and back to his room where he already had his things packed.

"There's this sea witch I heard about. Apparently, she can do anything. So I think we go to her, and get her to turn us human. Then we live a happy life on land." Harry grinned.

Draco gave him a deadpan look that must have spoken volumes because Harry's smile faded. "That is the dumbest idea you've had yet." Draco sighed.

"At least it's better than you getting married to someone else," Harry grumbled.

Draco had to give him that and sighed, nodding a little. "I think we go back to your original plan where I go to live with you. My father will be furious, but I don't think he'll have the sway with the court to start a full war."

Harry nodded. "I'll take those odds." He squeezed Draco's hand.

"Here." Draco passed Harry his heavy case full of things he was taking. "You carry this. If you drop it, I will never sleep with you again," Draco threatened.

Harry groaned a little at the weight. "This is going to slow us down."

"You're already getting a big win by having me go off and live like some rustic. I get to keep my nice stuff," Draco said.

Harry nodded and held it tight. "Understood."

Draco grabbed one smaller pack and slipped it over his shoulders to wear on his back. He'd already left a long message for his family and friends so there was nothing left to do. He looked around the room one last time.

Harry leaned into him and kissed his cheek, seeming to understand that Draco needed this chance to say goodbye to his old life.

Feeling unexpectedly choked up, Draco took off his crown and left it on the vanity. He tied his hair back and nodded at Harry. "Let's go."

They swam out of the windows again, hurrying off toward the south, with any luck they'd slip away without anyone noticing.

"Guards?" Harry asked, pointing below them at the two mermen who were shadowing them.

"Probably. Come to think of it, you do look like a thief with that big bag," Draco realized.

"Might have thought of that earlier," Harry grumbled. He tugged Draco's arm and pulled him off on a sharp turn over some coral, trying to shake the guards from following.

Draco followed his lead and they swam close together, on the lookout for more guards.

"Maybe they weren't after us?" Harry said hopefully when they didn't see any sign of them for a minute. As they turned the corner to cut through a channel, there were not two guards, but four. They held their weapons out and looked threatening.

Of course with the big bag in his arms, Harry couldn't reach his sword. Draco was only wearing a dagger that wouldn't help much if it came to a fight. He recognized the guards as his father's, hopefully, they didn't have orders to force Draco back.

"What is the meaning of blocking my path?" Draco demanded with his princely haughty voice.

"We were told to stop anyone trying to leave. There was a jailbreak," the guards said hesitantly.

"That order does not apply to your prince. Stand down," Draco ordered.

The guards lowered their weapons. "Of course, sir. But this merman, we'll have to stop him from leaving. "

"He's coming with me. If you have objections, take them to your commander. But I'm leaving with him," Draco insisted. He put an arm around Harry's shoulders, indicating that if they tried to stop Harry, they'd have to go through Draco first.

The guards looked between each other. They weren't prepared to get in trouble for putting a hand on the Prince. Reluctantly they nodded and moved to the side, allowing Harry and Draco to pass.

Draco kept his arm around Harry and swam quickly away. "We'd better hurry, I'm sure they're looking for you. If their orders were a little better, they wouldn't have let us go at all. Next time we won't be so lucky."

"There won't be a next time. We'll be at the border soon," Harry said confidently.

This time Harry's confidence was right, they got back to their rock without further incident.

"Let's take a break up there," Harry said.

Draco nodded and jumped up easily. Harry, of course, had to gently push the bag up and out onto the rocky ledge before he climbed out.

Draco pulled his heavy pack closer and slid off his backpack for a little bit. It was a warm sunny day, but storm clouds were gathering.

"What all is in there?" Harry asked, laying out on the rock next to Draco.

"Your birthday gift for one thing," Draco said, opening it.

Harry slipped off the cloak he'd been wearing. "You got me a gift?" He grinned.

"I'd been working on it for months, it's not like I was laying around and missing you and got you something at that point," Draco said before Harry got too full of himself.

Harry wasn't listening and looked at the bag with great interest, wanting his gift.

Draco chuckled and pulled it out. "For you." He handed him a small delicate coral box.

Happily, Harry opened the box and beamed when he saw the jewelry. "Draco! This is amazing." He picked it up and looked at the shining stones.

"You have to look a little princely too," Draco said, taking it from Harry's hand and putting it around his thick bicep.

"Thank you," Harry said happily and leaned in to kiss him. "I'll wear it always," he promised.

"Happy Birthday," Draco said. "And prepare yourself cause you only get to hear this maybe twice." Draco leaned in to whisper in Harry's ear, "I love you."

In Draco's opinion, such words were better spoken seldom if at all. But sometimes, it was nice to say it and hear it.

"I love you too." Harry smiled, "Come now, let's go home." He picked up the bag again and they slipped back into the water, ready to start their new life.


End file.
